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Managing IT as a Business Summary

A Survival Guide for CEOs

Managing IT is a demanding process even for the most experienced ones.

We sum up the main discoveries in “Managing IT as a Business” and present a comprehensive summary that you can use in your daily endeavors.

Who Should Read “Managing IT as a business”? And Why?

We prescribe this one-of-a-kind guidebook to leaders, managers, economists, and students who march to become successful, and influential on the market. Written in an easily-digestible manner, “Managing IT as a Business” deservedly obtains the primacy – the book of tomorrow. Filled with investment tips, budget organization, strategies, you will not be wasting your time.

About Mark D. Lutchen

Mark D. Lutchen currently heads the company’s Business Risk Management Initiative, and he is also the former global Chief Information Office (CIO) of Price Waterhouse Coopers.

“Managing IT as a Business Summary”

In 2003, the world was stunned by a statement that was inconvenient up to that point. In the eyes of the companies, IT was considered a major tool for gaining an advantage in the market and was used to aid the corporations in a time of crisis. The Harvard Business Review published a mind-blowing article which revealed the bitter truth that IT became an ordinary thing. The transition from a valuable asset to basic necessity created the phrase – “IT doesn’t matter.”

The thing that shocked the world:

The article’s author implied that IT is no longer a primary resource for generating value, it is more like a commodity, that almost the entire business community had it. In fact, going from No one to No (?), was a tough time for the conventional minds, who thought that nothing could overshadow IT. With no room to spare, a new methodology was born and conveyed with the transparency of a single article. Despite the efforts to put IT in the driver’s seat, everyone realized that it was not going to happen.

Here’s what you should consider:

Maybe we have underestimated the power of creativity, and traditional marketing techniques to gain a competitive edge. Strategically, it was no longer possible to rely on IT capabilities, and thus the market was preparing itself for another turn of events.

In fact, companies which failed to predict the pros and cons of IT survived this crash. “IT doesn’t matter” brought the market to its knees, and the fluctuations resulted in huge upside potential, but with very low exploitations of the IT resources. As much as we want to turn a blind eye, IT has lost its grip over the firms’ success and was forced to take a casual stance, just like everything else, only because it wasn’t perceived as a Business!

Nowadays, the IT costs exceed the benefits of many corporations. It is a commodity used with other resources as one unit which is a strategy leading to financial catastrophe. Indeed, IT is self-sufficient, but we lack the expertise to identify this need. Benefits emerging from it are now interpreted as nothing spectacular. However, the results display a different reality. Generally speaking, businesses require more than a simple management of resources, the real deal happens behind closed doors.

Don’t hesitate to enhance professionally, advance your business agenda and conquer the market.

The author Mark D. Lutchen introduces managers, leaders, owners, CEOs, and CIOs, why IT is not the same asset as it once were – years ago. It is an integral part of any business, and probably more. Mark imposes a new perspective to help the business community, to become more competitive and not lay so much money on IT, but rather exploit it fully.

What exactly happened?

IT leadership lost control and weakened as a result of the low support shown by the top management. Even inclining towards technological advancement, doesn’t guarantee progress. Perhaps, this serves as a wakeup call, to start managing IT separately as a big investment or business, and totally eradicate the foolish methods.

Here’s the thing:

IT undoubtedly adds to the shareholder value, and foster prosperity and productivity. Due to the escalating situation, businesses were forced to modify their practices, which resulted in many ups and downs. In the face of failure, many companies make rash decisions, which contradicts the process of managing IT successfully. The IT spending is referred to quality, rather than quantity. It doesn’t rely on rough numbers, nor imprecise forecasting.

Key Lessons from “Managing IT as a Business”

Evaluation of IT impact

IT meets business on controversial territory and offers a compromise to solve this problematic. The major economic incentives drive the today’s society forward, but absent IT, reaching success is unfeasible. Select the proper metrics to manage IT, and reshape the organizational structure to apply your new philosophy.

The intertwined concepts conquer markets

Management also gives a lot of credit to finance, and because of that – IT was mostly perceived as nothing other than cost. It didn’t fall into the “investment” category. With this in mind, people realize that corporations lose status due to their stubbornness and lack of vision.

Design the perfect plan

Investment is a tricky business; strategies are embedded and hidden behind old theories that require change. One freshly appointed (CIO) operating in major corporation wrote an article which confirmed the reduced influence of IT and explained the factor of overall impact. The bottom line is, companies lacked strategic vision and refused to accept the fact that IT is prone to obsolescence. Utilizing new technologies and coordinate them perfectly is not enough to avoid collapse.

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Our Critical Review

As the title indicates, the emphasis falls on IT and speaks to CEOs from all industries to transform their mindsets. The process of allowing the CIOs to express themselves more freely will foster other departments to reach their goals. As such we believe that this book is perfect for leaders of today.